Wednesday, July 25, 2001
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Wednesday, July 25, 2001 |
| Planners
eye how to squeeze out more green space by squeezing in more homes
By DAVE HAMRICK
You say you want more green space? Easier said than done. Fayette County and local cities have entered into Georgia's new green space program, aimed at setting aside 20 percent of each jurisdiction's land for passive parks. By entering into the agreement, Fayette received $750,000 from the state, $360,000 to be used by the county, the remainder split between Fayetteville, Peachtree City and Tyrone. "You can only use this for passive recreation," Pete Frisina, senior planner, told the Planning Commission in a workshop meeting last week. "You can't use this money to buy land and put a ball field on it." Now the Planning Commission is looking at one of the suggested ways of getting green space without spending money. Creating a "green space subdivision" zoning category would allow developers to put homes on smaller lots than a zoning category normally would allow, as long as they set aside acres of green space to be held permanently in conservation easements. "We like the neutral-density approach," said Frisina last week. What that means is that if a subdivision is zoned for 40 homes on 100 acres, instead of putting those homes on two-acre lots, a developer would put the homes on lots as small as an acre, leaving the rest of the land as green space, but the number of lots would not change. It sounds simple, but it brings up a lot of questions. "Is the county going to have an active role in maintenance [of the green space]?" assistant County Attorney Dennis Davenport wanted to know. If the developer puts the property under a conservation easement, commissioners asked, would he then be able to reverse that in the future? "It's in perpetuity," Frisina said, though commissioners questioned whether that would be iron-clad. If the property were deeded to the county to ensure that it remains permanently green, then the property would go off the tax roles, but, "as long as someone owns it other than the county, there's always the possibility they can do something that's detrimental to the property," said Davenport. Commissioners will study several samples of green space ordinances from other cities and counties for future discussion. Developers have a financial incentive to use the green space concept if the county provides a way for them to do it. Frisina said the developer of a 40-lot subdivision on 100 acres could save as much as $400,000 by reducing lot sizes, while helping the environment by leaving trees standing and pouring less asphalt for roads. "I think it's a great idea ... I think it's wonderful," said commission member Jim Graw.
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